Frank, I would like to see a post on possible fish to use in small nature aquariums. Twice now, the fish introduced look amazing and I had never heard of them before this thread. I would like to know what other options are out there as well for nano fish. The established guide here just does not help as much as it should.

Fish, especially ones for Nano aquaria, tend to be delicate. When healthy, they are robust and entertaining to watch. It is your objective to as safely as possible acclimate your fish into your aquarium so you can avoid suffering through significant fish loss - and nothing's worse than getting excited about that great new, maybe rare, fish only to have a mass die-off within 24-48 hours.

In this case, I had my fish shipped to me - it's often difficult to get great nano fish at Local Fish Stores, usually due to demand and their extra handling requirements.

The first thing you should bear in mind, is that whether you're taking them home from the LFS or if you've got them shipped in, those little guys are going through an insane transition period right now and are likely stressed out.

Imagine if you were plucked from where you're sitting now, got wrapped up in a giant translucent box and immediately started to get transported, only able to get the faintest glimpses of your surroundings. Rocking back and forth, starting and stopping as the transportation process begins.

You'd probably be freaking out or stressed -just- a little bit, no?

It's okay though - the fish you're bringing home are going to a great new home in a Nature Aquarium that is as close to perfect conditions for them as possible (side note: always make sure your Ammonia levels read 0 before adding fish).

Preparing Your Aquarium Checklist

1. Turn off your Co2 - these fish aren't adapted to Co2 conditions yet at worst, at best they come from tanks that have Co2 but are too stressed to handle it.

2. Lift your lily pipe or outflow pipe for additional aeration into the water to get more oxygen going.

3. Get a 5 gallon bucket ready for the fish

4. Have a long piece of airline or co2 tubing available - such as the tubing that comes with an ADA Clear Parts or Gray Parts Set.

5. Have your fish net handy - a soft net, such as one used to get trimmings out of an aquarium is the best to use. These soft nets are best for dealing with the extremely small size of the fish and their scales without damaging them. Any net that's even a little bristly to the touch you should avoid. Stick to one that is 100% soft and smooth.

To start, you should have a 5 gallon bucket on hand (you should always have one for your aquarium maintenance duties - life savers!), gently pour the water from the bag into the bucket - the fish should slide gently with the flow of the water into the bucket.

Next you're going to want to begin to drip acclimate the fish so that they can adapt to the new temperatures and water conditions of your aquarium.

Drip acclimation is easy - take your piece of airline tubing, place one end in the aquarium such as depicted here:

Now, before you begin the siphon, tie a loose knot into the end of the airline tubing that is going into the bucket - just a very basic loop is all that's necessary.

Begin the siphon and, once water flow begins, tighten the knot vigorously and this will slow the water flow down to a drip.

Example of a tightened knot

Once the dripping has commenced, sit back and relax and wait for the water in the aquarium to be drained to a level where the outflow is breaching the water's surface like so:

As soon as the water level reaches this point, stop the siphon by removing the airline tubing from the aquarium and drain the remainder of the water in the tubing into the bucket.

Your water volume should now be roughly 60% water from your aquarium and 40% water from the original bag containing the fish.

If it isn't, you may need to add some more water from the aquarium.

The next step for you to take is to sit back and relax! place an airstone into with an airstone attached to an air pump into the bucket

This keeps the water nice and oxygenated for the fish.

Meanwhile, go take a nap, watch some TV, surf the internet, whatever for about 45 minutes and let the fish get accustomed to the new water.

After the 45 minutes is up, take your fine fish net and catch the fish from the bucket and place them into the aquarium. NEVER add the water from the bucket into the aquarium! This will release built up ammonia or contaminates from other aquariums into yours.

Once all your fish are into the aquarium, they should at this point have faded coloration and some may even appear white. This is normal - they're still getting acclimated.

***Make sure to keep your Co2 Off*** Do not turn on your Co2 until the next day and maintain the water level where it is.

Keep the Co2 Turned off until the next day and maintain the water level at this point

In the end, 15-20 minutes after initial placement into the aquarium, the fish should be happily dancing around, colored up and enjoying the new setup you've got going:

Feed the fish 1-2 times a day, in small doses, only to the extent which they will eat within 30 seconds. Every 30 seconds for 1-2 minutes you may add a little bit extra, so long as they continue to eat. Don't overfeed - as this will lead to an algae outbreak.

Hope you've enjoyed the Nano Fish Acclimation Guide!

-Frank Wazeter

P.S. Feedback is always appreciated if the post brings you value! Make sure to ask me with specific questions.

I have a specific question. When fish have been in a bag for 2-3 days due to shipping, it's my understanding that the ammonia in the water has built up. But because the bag is sealed, it's less harmful to the fish somehow. However, the instant you open the bag, there is a chemical reaction (CO2 and pH maybe?) that causes the ammonia to become much more toxic.

As a result, I generally add a tiny bit of Prime into my 5g bucket just before opening the bag and releasing the new fish into the bucket. I've always done this to help protect the fish from the ammonia in the shipping water.

What do you think of the issues of ammonia in the water from shipping and how to handle it? Is the way I handle it a good idea or is there a better way?

I have a specific question. When fish have been in a bag for 2-3 days due to shipping, it's my understanding that the ammonia in the water has built up. But because the bag is sealed, it's less harmful to the fish somehow. However, the instant you open the bag, there is a chemical reaction (CO2 and pH maybe?) that causes the ammonia to become much more toxic.

As a result, I generally add a tiny bit of Prime into my 5g bucket just before opening the bag and releasing the new fish into the bucket. I've always done this to help protect the fish from the ammonia in the shipping water.

What do you think of the issues of ammonia in the water from shipping and how to handle it? Is the way I handle it a good idea or is there a better way?

You're absolutely correct - if a fish has been in a bag for 2-3 days (as opposed to Next Day Air), then it's a great course of action to add Prime to the 5g bucket to lesson the impact of ammonia burn on the gills of the fish.

In your directions above, you said to take a 45 minute break after the water has finished dripping into the bucket, but the only measurement you gave of how long it takes to drip the water in the bucket was in reference to the amount of water being dripped. There's no time given. The time can vary greatly, depending on how fast or slow you make the drip. So about how long would you say it takes for you to drip the water into the bucket before your 45 minute break?

Also, I have large tanks running CO2 (75g and 90g). I've always been concerned about adding fish in these tanks because of the CO2. Both tanks have a high CO2 saturation (drop checkers are yellow). What I've been doing is performing a 50% water change to cut the CO2 saturation in the tank before adding new fish. However, I have not been turning the CO2 off after that. Is doing the 50% water change first the best idea or do you have a better suggestion? Also, if I did keep the CO2 off for the remainder of the day, will the fish be okay when the CO2 jumps back to its normal high saturation level the next day? Just how much will the CO2 affect new fish? (It might be helpful to note that I also have a high oxygen level in the tanks based on the amount of pearling seen in the tanks.)

Thank you so much for offering to help answer these questions! I've actually been wondering about some of these things, especially since I just added 50 new amanos and a couple new plecos to my tanks.

Hey Frank, I've read this whole thread over the past few days and I feel like I've learned a lot. I'm a reef keeper about to attempt my first planted aquaria. Recently I've decided that I am going to wait a little while before starting my tank though so that I can more thoroughly study "the method" and really have a good plan laid out of what I need to do. I also have a lot of materials to obtain. I have the tank and an HOB filter and that's about it.

Maybe I missed something, but is the current M supposed to be the "challenge" tank that was discussed earlier in the thread?

Finally, nice write up on drip acclimation. I used a similar method for acclimating marine fish as well. I would maybe mention that if the tank water is heated that a temperature acclimation procedure would also be required which could be putting the fish into a tupperware or a bag and floating it in the tank for the last portion of the procedure.

Great write-up Frank. That's how I added my Boraras brigittae the other day, and they are doing great. The one thing I would add is that it does seem to make the fish more comfortable if you place something in the bucket. In your photos, the dark airline tubing can be that "something". I placed a stone in my bucket, and they instantly grouped around that. Fish like structure. Even though the bucket is a very temporary part of their stressful journey, and it's relatively trivial, I think everything we can do to reduce stress is a plus. For the dip net, the Fluval shrimp net works very well for nano fish. It doesn't collapse around them but remains open, so less contact with their delicate fins. I could coax them into the net without aggressively chasing them, and then simply placed the net in the tank and allowed them to swim out when ready --a very gentle process.

I've really enjoyed my Petco bookshelf experiment, but I'm about ready to get on with my ADA tank. You post too much eye-candy! Cannot...resist....can...not...resist. I'll be contacting you soon.

Frank, I would like to see a post on possible fish to use in small nature aquariums. Twice now, the fish introduced look amazing and I had never heard of them before this thread. I would like to know what other options are out there as well for nano fish. The established guide here just does not help as much as it should.

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